Automatic crossing gate



Feb. 14, 1928.

E. L. SAVOLD AUTOMATIC CROSSING GATE Filed March 27. 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet1 Lr1yEI1 R Feb. 14, 1928. 1,659,051

E. L. SAVOLD AUTOMATIC CROS S ING GATE Filed March 27 1926 2Sheets-Sheet 2 I I l 15 x Exam- E2 er LASCLUOZLL,

" the Patented Feb. 14, 1928.

1S P AT EN i ELMER I4. SAVOLD, OF HILLS, MINNESOTA.

AUTOMATIC CROSSING GATE.

Application filed March 27, 1926. Serial No. 97,826

.This invention relates to railway crossing gates and more particularlyto mechanisms connected therewith for automatically open ing and closingthe gates by means adapted to be operated from the cow-Catcher oradvanced portion of a railroad engine or the like.

It is an object of this invention to provide railroad crossing gratecontrol means adapted to be automatically opened and closed by a train.

It is also an object of this invention to provide railroad gates havingmechanisms connected therewith for opening and closing same atpredetermined times, said means adaptedtobe governed by a train as itapproaches a crossing and leaves the same.

.It is furthermore an object of this invention to provide railroadcrossing gateswith mechanisms-adapted to be operated by a 'passing'trainto Qauseopening and closing of thegates at predetermined times.

It is an important oh ect ofthls invenion to provideamailroad crossinggate con- ,trol mechanism adaptedto be operated by rneans of a. shoeon'the cow-catcher or fender of an enginawherehy themechanism is firstadapted toloe operated to cause opening of the gates with theapproachotan engine and then cause automatic closing of said gates soonas theengine-has passed the .crossing and comes into operat ng contact withthe gate closingcontrol mechanism.

,Other and :further important objects of this invention will be apparentfrom the disclosures in the specification and the accomnanving drawings.

This invention (in a preferred form) is illustrated in thedrawings-andhereinafter .rnore fully described.

On the drawings: Figure .L s a fragmentary top plan view (of a railroadtrack and road crpssing.-sa.id

crossing bei equipped with gates I adapted to he automaticallv operatedvbv control me anisms em edv ne h p ncipl o s invention ,and.associatedwith the tna-cks.

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevation of the 1, track taken;on 'line iIIII oi F-iu ure 1, showing airag mentary portion of anengine :cowcatcher .or tender and furthermore ndicating in dottedlines-the operation of a eontrol deviee.

tical section of the lower portion of a crossing gate, showing parts inelevation.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary sectional View taken on line VIVI of Figure 5.

As shown on the drawings:

The reference numeral 1 indicates a cross road over which a railroadtrack is layed. The track comprises the ordinary pair of steel rails 2and the railwav ties 3. At spaced intervals from the road crossing arelonger ties 4, 5 and 6 for a purposehereinafter more fully described. Asillustrated in igures 2 and 4-. the reference numeral 7 indicates afragmentary portion vofarailroad engine cow-catcher or fender. Mountonone side of the cow-catcher is a control shoe 8. Mounted on oppositesides of the track and on diagonally oppositesi-des or" the road 1 arerailroad crossing gates 9 each of which is sunuorted on a hollowpedestal 10 provided with a transverse bearing sleeve 11in which isiournalleda shaft 12 for supportinrr the cute 9. The gate 9.may be ofany desired construction carrvinn the counteru'eights 1,3 as shown inFigure 5. Secured on the gate shaft 12 in the pedestal it) is a. crankarm 14 tothe end of wh ch is pivotallv connected acounectingmod 15. Thelower end otthe connecting rod .15 is nivotallv connected to a hellerauklti which is rotatahlv supportedon a rod or shaft 17 ,mountedin thelowerportion ofthe-pedestal ,10. Pivotallv connected tothe second arm ofthebellcrank 1.6 is oneendof a connectin." har or rod 18 Which passesoutof the ped stal through a suitahleooeniuela The outerend ot theconuectinghar v18 v is pivot- .allv connected to the long arm 20 of anintermediate .loell cranlz .havinga short arm 21. The ntermediate hellcrank 20--21 is ,pivotallv supported on a vertical peg or mainconnecting rod or bar 23 which, as clearly illustrated in Figure 1,slidably c2;- tends transversely through a suitable conduit or openingin the cross road 1. One end of the main connecting rod 23 is connectedto one end of a slidable yoke 2% which slidably projects from a shockabsorbing cylinder or housing 25 which is Securely mounted on theextending ends of the two railway ties 4t. A second yoke 26 is slidablymounted in the housing 25 with the outer end of said yoke 26 projectingfrom the end of the housing and connected with a connecting bar or rod27. Mounted in the shock absorbing housing 25 between the twotelescoping yokes 2% and 26 is a heavy control spring 28. The other endof the connecting rod 2'? is pivotally connected to a short bell crankarm 29 whicn is secured on the outer end of a main operating shaft 30which is mounted transveix-zely of the track below the rails 2 asclearly illustrated in Figures 1 and 4.. Also secured. to the maincontrol shaft 30 to the outside of the rails 2 are two upwardlydirected. long bell crank arms 31. The upper ends of the long bell crankarms 31 are pivotally connected to a pair of control rails 32, the endsof which are curved downwardly at 33. The two control rail 32 arepositioned on opposite sides of the track rails 2 and have the endsnearest the road crossing 1 pivotally connected to supporting armssimilar to the lon bell crank arms 31. It will be noted that the maincontrol shaft 30 together with the arms 29 and 31 connected thereto forma main control bell crank mechanism which is adapted to be operated bymeans of control rails 32 when said control rails are operated by meansof a shoe 8 carried by a railway engine tender as hereinbeforedescribed.

Connected to the second end of the main connecting rod 23 is one arm ofa fulcrumed lever 34 which is pivotally supported on the extended end ofthe railway tie 5. The other end of the fulcrumed lever 34 is connectedto the yoke member 24 of a gate shutting mechanism. As illustrated inFig ure 1, the automatic gate opening mechanisms are represented as avwhole by the reference character A, while the automatic gate closingmechanisms on the opposite side of the road are represented as a wholeby the reference character B The four control rails 32 are provided twoon each side of the cross road 1 for the purpose of permitting theoperation of the automatic gate operating mechanisms by an engine or carapproaching from either direction. When the control rail 32 of the gateopening mechanism A is in its elevated position as shown in Figure 2,the control rail 32 of the gate shutting mechanism B is in a loweredposition equivalent to the dotted line position of the control rail 32illustrated in Figure 2. It will thus be seen that the two pairs ofcontrol rails 32 positioned upon opposite sides of the main railroadtrack permit the gate control mechanisms to be operated and to be openedand closed automati ally when a train approaches the cross road fromeither direction.

The operation is as follows:

lVith the automatic crossing gate 1nechanisms mounted in the positionsillustrated in Figure 1 and with the crossing gates 9 in their raisedposition, an engine approach ing from the left looking at Figure 1 andcarrying a control shoe 8 on the cow-catcher or fender, or on any otheradvanced portion of the advancing vehicle, the downwardly curved arm 33of one of the control rails 32 is first engaged by the shoe 8 on theapproaching engine said. shoe acting to more the control rail 32 fromthe full line position of Figure 2 into the dotted line position. .hisoperation of the control rail. 32 actuates the long bell crank arms 31thereby causing the short bell crank arm 23 to Swing from the full lineposition of Fig ure 2 into the dotted line position. This movement ofthe short bell crank arm 29 causes operation of the primary connectingrod 27 which in turn actuates the shock absorbing mechanism within thehousing 25 before the movement is transmitted to the secondaryconnecting rod 23. With the operation of the secondary connecting rod 23in a direction opposite to that of the approaching train, both of thebell cranks 2021 are operated, thereby causmg simultaneous operation ofthe gate control rods 18 which when operated actuate the bell cranks 16and the connecting rods 15 within the gate pedestals 10 thus causingoperatumof the crank arms 14 to cause the gates to be gradually swungdownwardly into closed position transversely of the cr ss road 1 and onopposite sides of the track.

Then the control rail 32 of the gate openmechanism A is moved into itslower position shown in dotted lines in Figure 2, the control rail ofthe gate closing mechanism B is moved from a lowered into raisedposition similar to the full line posn tion of the control rail 32illustrated in Figure 2. It will thus be noted that when one of thecontrol rails is lowered, the one on the opposite side of the road israised and. vice versa.

As soon as the. cow-catcher of the advancing engine crosses the road 1and approaches the second control rail on the opposite side of the road,the shoe on the cow-catcher moves into engagement with the control rail32 of the gate closing mechanism B, thereby tending to move the samefrom a raised to a lowered position, thus causing a reverse operation ofthe mechanisms A and B to IOU take place, resulting in the automaticraising or opening of the gates 9.

It Will thus be seen that the crossing gates 9 are adapted to beautomatically lowered and raised by means of the control shoe 8, whichcontrol may be carried on any convenient portion of an approachingengine, car, or the like. It will also be understood that the gatecontrol mechanisms A and B may be positioned at substantial distancesfrom the cross road to facilitate proper operation of the gates in duetime. The two sets of control rails positioned on opposite sides of theroad; and on opposite sides of the rails 52 atl'ord an arrangementwhereby the mechanisms A and B may be auto1naticaly operated atpredetermined times by a train or vehicle approching from eitherdirection.

I am aware that many changes may be made, and numerous details ofconstruction may be variad through a wide range without departing fromthe principles of this invention, and I therefore do not purposelimiting the patent granted hereon, otherwise than necessitated by theprior art.

I claim as my invention:

1. The combination with a railroad track and a cross road, of crossinggates positioned on opposite sides of said road, gate opening mechanismson one side of said read, gate closing mechanisms on the opposite sideof said, road, control shoes connected with said mechanisms and mountedto raise and lower on opposite sides of said road in the path ofmovement of an advancing engine, a connecting member at one side of thetrack between said mechanisms, arranged to ele vate the shoes at oneside of the road when the shoes at the other side of the road aredepressed, and means carried by the engine adapted at predeterminedtimes to first react. with one of said control shoes to cause automaticclosing of the gates and then adapted to be brought into coactingengagement with the control shoe on the opposite side of the road tocause automatic opening of said gates.

2. In a railway gate apparatus including a pair of gates mountedatopposite sides of a track, and also upon opposite sides of a roadwayacross the track, gate operating mechanisms of similar construction atopposite sides of the track and the roadway, a connecting member alongone side of the track between said mechanisms having peratireconnections at spaced points and of a similar nature with the saidgates, shockabsorbing means between said gate operating mechanisms andthe said connecting member, and engine actuated shoes at opposite sidesof the track and the roadway and linked to said gate operatingmechanisms, said shoes at. one side of the roadway being in elevatedposition when the shoes at the opposite site of the roadway aredepressed.

3. In a railway gate apparatus, a pair of balanced gates disposed atopposite sides of a track, a connecting bar paralleling the track,connections of a similar nature between the said. gates and spacedpoints of the connecting bar, a pair of spaced-apart gate operatingmechanisms, one of which is directly connected to one end of saidconnecting bar, a bell crank between the other end of the connecting barand the other operating mechanism, and engine actuating shoes linked tosaid operating mechanisms and so arranged that the shoes of oneoperating mechanism are in actuated position when the shoes of the otheroperating mechanism are in normal position and vice versa.

4. In a railway gate apparatus, a pair of balanced gates, similarconnections for closing and opening each of the gates, includingconnecting bars in spaced-apart parallel relation, a third connectingbar at right angl s to the first named connecting bars and having atspaced points bell cranks connecting the same with the first mentionedconnecting bars, a pair of gate operating mechanisms, one of which isdirectly connected to one end of the third connecting bar, a bell crankconnecting the opposite end of the third; connecting bar with the othergate operating mechanism, and engine actuated shoes operativelyconnected to the said gate actuating mechanisms for the purpose setforth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name.

ELMER L. SAVOLD.

